Crime & Law
Lawsuit Filed by Man Police Shot in CTA Red Line Station Set for Trial
Chicago police officers respond to Ariel Roman, who is seated on the ground moments after he was shot inside the Grand Red Line station on Feb. 28, 2020. (Civilian Office of Police Accountability)
A federal jury is set to decide whether Chicago police officers violated the civil rights of the Chicago man they shot during a February 2020 incident in the Grand Red Line CTA station, records show.
Former Chicago Police Officer Melvina Bogard was acquitted in November 2022 on criminal charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct for shooting Ariel Roman during rush hour at one of the city’s busiest train stations.
But the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the agency charged with investigating police misconduct, determined the shooting violated department policy and was unjustified. The agency better known as COPA urged that Bogard, and her partner, Officer Bernard Butler, be fired. Chicago Police Supt. David Brown agreed.
Roman’s shooting was captured on cellphone video and was one of several instances of police violence that drew widespread attention during 2020, fueling calls for criminal justice reform that grew after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd in May 2020.
The trial, set to start Dec. 8 and last 10 days, represents a high-stakes gamble for the city, whose lawyers typically recommend settling civil cases involving actions by the police that led to criminal charges and are ruled to have violated department policy.
No proposal to resolve Roman’s lawsuit was ever presented to the Chicago City Council, even as federal court records show extensive negotiations to reach a settlement were unsuccessful.
While Bogard resigned before she could be disciplined for shooting Roman, the Chicago Police Board voted 5-4 in August 2023 to suspend Butler for one year rather than fire him. Butler is an active member of CPD, assigned to the Central (1st) Police District, which includes downtown, according to a department spokesperson.
Chicago taxpayers paid $1.15 million through Aug. 28 to defend the lawsuit filed by Roman, according to documents obtained by Roman’s lawyers through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided to WTTW News.
The incident began when Bogard and Butler saw Roman crossing between cars while the train was moving, a violation of city ordinance, just after 4 p.m. on Feb. 28, 2020, according to the probe by COPA.
The two officers ordered Roman off the train so they could issue a citation. When Roman opened his backpack to get his identification, Butler grabbed his arm and a struggle began near the train tracks on a platform crowded with rush-hour commuters, according to the probe by COPA.
As the struggle continued, Butler moved Roman away from the tracks and Bogard discharged her Taser twice, according to the probe by COPA. Butler tackled Roman near the station’s escalator, and fired his Taser three times, according to the probe.
As Roman continued to resist, Bogard took out her pepper spray, which is also known as OC spray, and Butler yelled “shoot him.” Even though Roman’s face was inches away from her partner’s face, Bogard doused him with the chemical irritant, according to the probe.
Roman then got to his feet, prompting Bogard to unholster her weapon and say, “I’m going to shoot him,” according to the probe. Butler told her, again, to “shoot him,” according to the probe.
While attempting to clear the pepper spray from his eyes, Roman “staggered several feet toward” Bogard, who shot him in the abdomen, according to the probe. Wounded, Roman ran up the escalator, turning his back on both officers who pursued him, according to the probe.
Bogard fired a second time, striking Roman in the buttocks, according to the probe. Roman collapsed at the top of the stairs, where he was taken into custody, according to the probe.
Roman was unarmed, and all of the charges against him were later dropped, according to the probe.
Roman did not “pose an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to Officer Bogard, Officer Butler, or any nearby civilians either time that Officer Bogard discharged her weapon,” the probe concluded. “Additionally, Officer Bogard fired her weapon inside a crowded CTA station, at rush hour, without determining whether her partner or any bystanders were in her line of fire. In fact, the video evidence shows Officer Butler was standing directly behind (Roman) in Officer Bogard’s line of fire, at the time she fired the first shot.”
COPA concluded that “both officers unnecessarily escalated the situation throughout the incident” by subjecting Roman to five separate Taser discharges, two pepper spray deployments and two gunshots, according to the probe.
Bogard was acquitted by Cook County Judge Joseph Claps who determined that Roman posed a threat to both officers and disregarded their commands.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
